I have a cornucopia

Chapter 310: Awesome and righteous
King Yang seemed to be possessed by the Piercing King. He erected dozens of wooden stakes outside Jiexiu City and strangled the Jiexiu elders and local sages headed by Fan Yongdou. Their property was quickly divided up.

Real estate, land, women, gold, silver and treasures...

All divided.

The gold, silver and jewelry belong to King Yang.

The property belongs to the poor people in the city who have no houses. One big house is enough to be divided into a hundred or so households.

The land belongs to the original tenants, including tenants from the gentry's own clans. In fact, it is mainly the gentry clans. Shanxi merchants are clan-based, but clan-based business is not acceptable. The land will eventually become theirs. In this regard, Shanxi tenants are obviously more decisive than those in the south.

As for women, they belong to the bachelors.

……

孽 孽!
Such kind and good gentry were brutally murdered.

Hundreds of years later, how many descendants of these poor tenants would sigh and curse their ancestors' brutality and shamelessness, wishing to return to that good old days and shout to the young masters and young ladies, "The servants love their masters." Of course, these could not change the reality. King Yang continued his abuse in the carnival of the people, causing more kind gentry to be exterminated. Then, he drove a tractor and a black cloud to Pingyao, surrounded by tens of thousands of young and strong men from Shanxi.

Pingyao.

"My king, my king, you can't do this, you can't kill the surrendered!"

"My king, you can't break your word!"

……

In front of the wooden stakes that were erected one by one, the gentry who were being pinned down by the local young men wailed in pain.

In front of them, King Yang was sitting with his legs crossed and holding a teacup like Cao Gonggong. Hearing this, he flew into a rage...

"Don't damage my honor, you bastard. When did I promise to let you go?"

he snapped.

The Pingyao gentry thought that the Jiexiu gentry suffered a catastrophe because they did not kneel thoroughly enough, and that the Lingshi gentry had misled them by not suffering the same disaster. So before King Yang went north, they quickly kidnapped the local officials and Green Flag Army generals appointed by Wu Sangui, and then drove a carriage with one million taels of silver to Jiexiu to welcome the king's army. King Yang also readily accepted it. The trustworthy Shanxi merchants of course thought that this meant that King Yang had let them go, and of course they had to do the work after taking the money. So when King Yang arrived in Pingyao, not only those who lived in the city, but also those who lived in the fortresses and mansions outside came one after another to show their loyalty to King Yang...

Shanxi merchants engage in collusion between officials and businessmen, and some even become one with them. This class worships power thoroughly.

It doesn't matter who is in power.

They simply kneel to power, not to the person who holds power, so they kneel to whoever holds power.

And now the most powerful person in the Ming Dynasty is undoubtedly King Yang.

As long as they can cling to King Yang's thigh, their family's future wealth is beyond doubt. After all, Shanxi's foreign trade must not be cut off, and since it cannot be cut off, there must be a group of people doing this. These Shanxi merchants have been doing this for hundreds of years, and they are the most suitable. As long as they can show loyalty to the power holders, then of course they are the best choice. So this time, let alone these gentry themselves, they even brought their families and even the next generation to show King Yang, and then they carried gold, silver, jewelry, beautiful girls, and beautiful boys. It's always right to consider it carefully. What if King Yang really likes this?

As a result, they were all caught in one fell swoop.

"My lord, we have surrendered. Can't you kill us?"

An old man with white hair and beard shouted in grief and anger.

"Which law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that it is forbidden to kill surrendered people? Is it written in the Ming Dynasty Law or in the Great Edict of Emperor Taizu? I am acting in accordance with the law. Since there is no law in the court that stipulates that it is forbidden to kill surrendered people, then my killing of surrendered people is not illegal? What? Do you still think that I will let you go if you kneel down? You have committed the serious crime of treason and the crime of extermination of three clans. Do you think that kneeling down can write off everything? Don't you think you are too naive? Give these back to me, why should I ask you to give them? Can't you take them yourself? You are all treason criminals stipulated in the Ming Dynasty Law. Extermination of three clans and confiscation of property are legal provisions. I am only acting in accordance with the law. You even bribed me with the silver that was supposed to be confiscated in order to make me let you go. You have misjudged me. I hate corrupt officials the most in my life. If I accept these from you and let you go, wouldn't I become a corrupt official too?

Emperor Taizu Gao, do you want to have me skinned and stuffed with straw?
Not only have you committed treason, but you also want to use this method to bribe me, trying to turn me into a corrupt official, making me disloyal to Her Majesty the Queen and let down Emperor Taizu Gao. How vicious your intentions are!
If I don't punish him severely, how can I face the Queen?
They will all be strung together and put on display for a hundred days!"

King Yang shouted with awe-inspiring righteousness.

The old man suddenly realized...

They are really stupid.

How can gifts be given so publicly and ostentatiously?
They carried silver to welcome the King of Qi. The King of Qi was on a northern expedition under the order of the Empress. If the silver was made public, it would have to be confiscated. Otherwise, King Yang would be corrupt and pervert the law. Of course, he couldn't be corrupt and pervert the law. But if he directly confiscated their property and exterminated their families, it would only take a word from him to decide how much was confiscated. It would also be fine if he just wiped out a zero in the account book. He just needed to give some change to the court. Anyway, all the families of these gentry were killed and there was no evidence. Which idiot came up with this trick? He had been giving gifts for hundreds of years, but he actually forgot the biggest taboo of gift-giving. How much silver had he given to the princes and ministers of the Ming and Qing dynasties? He was smart in giving, but why did he forget it when it came to Yang Feng?
Of course, we can't blame them.

After all, subconsciously, few people regard King Yang as an official of the Ming Dynasty.

Damn it, how can a warlord like you pretend to be an emperor?
Of course, King Yang's performance was still very popular. The people around him were very excited, and many of them knelt down and shouted "Master!"

“String them together!”

“String it together!

……

They were also shouting.

Then the young and strong men carried the wooden frames to the front of the wooden piles. The fall chains had already been installed on them. This kind of work must keep pace with the times. The most scientific method is to hang the gantry frame with fall chains and lower it from above.

"What if I secretly give him some money?"

Ge Lin, who was enjoying the scene from behind, whispered to Fu Shan beside him. The latter had been appointed as the acting governor of Shanxi, mainly responsible for organizing young and strong people to ensure the logistics transportation of King Yang. After all, the logistics of the Northern Expedition Army had to be transported from Xi'an to the north, and this section required a large number of manpower to travel by land. In fact, it was not just the Northern Expedition Army. Li Guo's troops had also entered Shanxi. He and Wang Yongqiang were attacking Xiaoyi, Fenyang and other places as the western route, and Yang Feng was heading straight to Taiyuan as the eastern route. In fact, there were many other routes that Li Zicheng's subordinates were heading north to reinforce. Liu Fangliang had also crossed the river to attack northward, preparing to lift the siege of Zezhou. As a backup, Ma Jinzhong's troops had also gone north from Huguang. Even Her Majesty the Queen issued an order to Zhang Xianzhong, ordering him to send troops north to Guanzhong to reinforce the King of Qi.

The latter should agree.

After all, these are the Queen's decrees, so he has to show some respect.

"What do you mean by secretly giving him money? When has King Yang ever accepted money? How dare you frame a loyal and honest minister like King Yang for accepting money from you? What are you waiting for?"

Fu Shan said calmly.

"Uh?"

Ge Lin was speechless. Well, Fu Shan still knew King Yang very well.

If you don't send money to welcome the king's army, you are a traitor who is resisting stubbornly. You should link them all together. If you send money to welcome the king's army, you are trying to bribe King Yang with money to make him corrupt and pervert the law. This is simply vicious. Of course, you should link them together and secretly send money to beg for mercy...

what?
When did you send money?

Who saw it? Are there any witnesses? There is nothing. You are slandering someone's innocence out of thin air. When did King Yang, such an honest and upright official, ever accept your money? How dare you frame a loyal minister like King Yang? Is it fair not to string up such evil people? So no matter what, they will be strung up in the end. No matter how hard you struggle, it is useless. King Yang's Northern Expedition is to erect such terrifying wooden stakes along the way. But no one cares. After all, no matter how you count, these gentry are all rebels. Even Fu Shan can only watch them being strung up.

Besides, this is not a bad thing for Fu Shan and others. The gentry also want to plunder each other.

Those who surrendered to the Jianlu were purged, so those who did not surrender, such as Fu Shan, could take over their business system...

The gentry also need to be replaced.

The killing in troubled times is also an opportunity!

If there hadn't been the denunciation of the Mingshi case, there wouldn't have been a family that existed for more than 200 years. The Zhuang family was indeed wiped out, but didn't the Cha family rise up by stepping on the corpses of the Zhuang family and taking the Zhuang family's property? How many aristocratic families in later generations rose up by stepping on the corpses of others in such a chaotic world.

At worst, I can just have offspring to clear my name!

and so……

"You guessed it right!"

A few days later, Ge Lin could already watch the angry and frantic struggles of the Qi County gentry and listen to their crazy howlings, and he sincerely admired Fu Shan's wisdom.

After learning about the tragedy of the Pingyao gentry, the Qixian gentry immediately understood why. The guys who had been giving gifts for hundreds of years couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity of the Pingyao gentry. These idiots died without any injustice. You gave money to King Yang in such a high-profile manner. It would be strange if King Yang didn't kill you! King Yang wanted to make himself famous as a great and upright official. Are you taking that little bit of dirty money to ruin his reputation? Whose bribery is so high-profile that everyone knows about it? So the Qixian gentry also collected one million taels, and then found a merchant from the Yang family who everyone knew. In fact, it was easy for them to find spies, and they didn't really hide their identities.

There is no need to hide.

The employees of the Yang family can act as they please in the Qing Dynasty. Firstly, many businesses of the Qing Dynasty merchants can only go through them. Secondly, local tyrants need to have good relations with them so that they have connections in times of emergency. Thirdly, no local tyrant is stupid enough to anger the Yang family. Even if they don't invite King Yang, they will still have many assassins who will exterminate their entire family.

And now is the emergency time.

So with the help of this man, they ran to Pingyao and found an attendant of King Yang. Then, through the attendant's connection, they met King Yang and gave King Yang one million taels. In order to ensure that King Yang would not break his promise, they also asked King Yang to give them a calligraphy letter.

Or a guarantee.

However, King Yang, who has now arrived in Qi County, said that he had never seen this person.

Heaven and earth conscience!
You can't be so shameless!

"I have the King's own handwriting, I have the King's own handwriting..."

The Shanxi merchant who had just met King Yang was holding up a piece of paper and screaming.

"Let him go. I want to see what tricks he has up his sleeve!"

King Yang said with a stern and upright look on his face, holding a teacup.

The soldier who was holding the guy down immediately let go. The man couldn't wait to unfold the letter of guarantee in his hand, raised it above his head, and showed it to the people around him.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this is written by you yourself. You personally acknowledged that you accepted the money to pardon us!"

He shouted with confidence.

Then there was immediate laughter all around.

"Master Wang, are you crazy? You actually used a piece of white paper to frame the king?"

"Master Wang, you should act more seriously. You are using white paper to frame the great judge. This is how your bank does business. Do you still have credibility?"

……

The people laughed at him.

Master Wang was stunned. He put down the letter of guarantee that Yang Feng had written in front of him in a daze. The letter that was originally full of words was now blank. It had only been three days. When he came back the day before yesterday, everyone read the letter of guarantee together. At that time, everyone saw it clearly and finally felt at ease and bold to welcome King Yang. How come it was blank now?
"Magic, magic, you use magic! You use magic! He uses magic, he uses magic..."

He screamed as if he was breaking down.

However, everyone just looked at him like he was a madman.

"You traitors have gone to great lengths to frame me. I took your money, used sorcery, and used every possible means. You are simply insane. I have no shame to the heavens, the earth, or my conscience. Today, I will let you dogs have a taste of what righteousness is. I will string them together and let them be punished by heaven and earth here!"

King Yang shouted.

Then the gantry that had been pushed over from Pingyao was also pushed next to the wooden piles here. The local young and strong men took the initiative to step forward, dragging these gentry to the bottom of the gantry, and then hooked the ropes on their bodies with the inverted chain hooks to hang them up and string them up...

"How is this going?"

Ge Lin asked Fu Shan in a low voice.

"For a man who can summon a magical weapon, is it difficult to make his writing disappear? If there is a kind of ink that can only keep its color for two or three days, and he uses this ink to write a letter of guarantee in front of this person, this person can take it back in less than a day, summon these gentry to read it, and wait for King Yang with peace of mind. When he comes, the ink will have disappeared, so there will be no evidence. Of course, the common people don't know this, they will only believe that Yang Qingtian did not accept the bribes from the gentry, and Yang Qingtian will gain both fame and fortune!"

Fu Shan said.

Of course, he thought too much of King Yang. King Yang didn't have such profound thoughts. King Yang was a simple person who was just looking for some fun because he was bored.

(Happy National Day.)
(End of this chapter)